Julie Winger, RN, doesn\u2019t usually get tears in her eyes when she talks about her work.<\/p>\n
With more than 20 years on the Pediatric Critical Care Transport Team at Mary Bridge Children\u2019s Hospital, this seasoned veteran has helped make sure thousands of critically ill children and babies can make it to lifesaving care at our hospital.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s one story from a recent trip that makes her pause before she shares.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a call that we needed to pick up a 3-year-old girl at a local hospital,\u201d she says. \u201cShe was septic. A team was doing CPR when we got there.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was less than 10 miles to Mary Bridge. However, Winger emphasizes, in moments where small lives hang in the balance, moments and miles matter \u2014 more than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the transport team, she would not have made it the short distance,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
But the little girl did make it to Mary Bridge, where she received the advanced support that saved her life.<\/p>\n
Mary Bridge\u2019s transport team began caring for its first patients in 1985. The team is staffed with an RN from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and a respiratory therapist.<\/p>\n
An emergency medical technician (EMT) drives the rig, an ambulance outfitted specifically for caring for young patients. Two ambulances are dedicated for pediatric transport at Mary Bridge.<\/p>\n
The nuances of caring for children and babies in critical situations is essential for helping get them stabilized and to lifesaving care.<\/p>\n
Currently Mary Bridge\u2019s team is the only pediatric critical care ground transport team in Western Washington. The team became freestanding in 2014, which means each team member\u2019s shift is designated for transport duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always been here,\u201d Winger says. \u201cIt shows we have the capability and skill to transport really sick kids. And we do an amazing job.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2017, the team transported 658 children to the PICU at Mary Bridge, including the little girl Winger cared for on that 10-mile ride.<\/p>\n
She trades her tears for a smile as she remembers the happy outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe recently came for a visit and was running around and talking,\u201d Winger recalls. \u201cThose are the kind of things that make this job worth doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mary Bridge\u2019s team is the only pediatric critical care ground transport team in Western Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-profiles-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n